Effects of a Self-Compassion Training Program on Self-Compassion, Discrete Emotions, and Mental Health among Psychology Students: A Randomized Controlled Study With 3-Month Follow-Up

A randomized controlled trial with 50 undergraduate psychology students in Athens, Greece, tested a six-session group-based self-compassion and mindfulness training program against a waitlist control, with a 3-month follow-up. The intervention was grounded in Neff's model of self-compassion and Kabat-Zinn's mindfulness. Analyses included 21 intervention and 25 control participants with complete data. The authors report that the program improved self-compassion and reduced depression, anxiety, and stress, with gains maintained at follow-up. The study was retrospective, unblinded, and used lottery-based allocation. No specific funding was received.

Study at a glance

Abstract

Study type: Randomized, controlled, parallel-group trial (retrospective registration; data collection already complete). Rationale/Background: University students training in psychology face elevated academic and emotional demands that place them at risk for stress, anxiety, and depression. This study examined whether a brief self-compassion and mindfulness training program could improve self-compassion, discrete positive/negative emotional experience, and reduce depression, anxiety, and stress among undergraduate psychology students, relative to a waitlist control group, with a 3-month follow-up. Participants: Undergraduate Psychology students at Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece. Fifty-eight students were assessed for eligibility; eight were excluded (five had previously participated in a similar self-compassion or mindfulness-based intervention, and three declined to participate). The remaining 50 were randomized, 25 per arm. In the intervention group, four participants subsequently discontinued (two for personal reasons/lack of availability, two who did not complete the post-intervention assessment); no participants discontinued in the control group. Twenty-one intervention-group students and 25 control-group students provided complete, matched data across all three assessment waves and were included in the final analysis. Design: Parallel-group randomized controlled trial, 1:1 allocation via lottery (random drawing), no blinding (not feasible for this intervention type). Intervention (experimental arm): A six-session, group-based self-compassion and mindfulness training program grounded in Neff's three-component model of self-compassion and Kabat-Zinn's conceptualization of mindfulness, covering: (1) introduction to self-compassion and mindfulness; (2) mindfulness for coping with anxiety; (3) mindfulness and emotion regulation; (4) building positive emotions; (5) managing anxiety through mindfulness and self-compassion; (6) overview and strategies for continued support. Control condition: Waitlist control — participants continued usual academic activities and completed the same assessments, without the training program, and were offered the program after study completion. Outcome measures (assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up): Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) - primary Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21) - primary Modified Differential Emotions Scale (mDES), including a discrete compassion item - secondary Analysis: Wilcoxon signed-rank tests (with paired t-tests for comparison) for within-group change; independent-samples t-tests for between-group comparisons at each wave. Ethics approval: Reviewed and approved by the Research Ethics and Deontology Committee of Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Protocol Number 47/04-07-2025. All participants provided informed consent. Recruitment period: Enrollment began 8 January 2026. Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Registration status: This is a retrospective registration; data collection was already complete at the time of registration.